BYD increased its production capacity by nearly 200,000 units in August-October and hired nearly 200,000 new people, with all production sites at full capacity, an executive said.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) has significantly boosted factory capacity over the past 3 months to support continued sales growth.
In the August-October period, BYD increased capacity by nearly 200,000 units, He Zhiqi, executive vice president of the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker, said on November 2 on Weibo.
He didn't specify, but the nearly 200,000-unit capacity increase should be monthly capacity. BYD's monthly sales grew from about 370,000 units in August to 500,000 units in October.
BYD's vehicle and parts businesses have hired nearly 200,000 new people, and all production sites are at full capacity, he said.
This rate of production ramp-up is without precedent, and teams such as production and procurement have made tremendous efforts, he added.
“In November (we will) continue to work hard and tap into all kinds of potential to see if we can progress a little bit more,” he wrote.
BYD sold 502,657 NEVs in October, surpassing the 500,000 mark for the first time and marking the fifth consecutive month of record highs, according to data released on November 1.
In the January-October period, BYD sold 3,250,532 NEVs, up 36.49 percent year-on-year.
If BYD's sales for the remaining two months of 2024 remain near October's levels, full-year sales are expected to reach about 4.3 million vehicles, representing a 42 percent increase from 3.02 million in 2023.
BYD ceased production and sales of vehicles powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March 2022, switching to a focus on producing plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and battery electric vehicle (BEV) models.
From January 2020 to mid-2023, BEV and PHEV models each contributed about half of BYD's monthly sales.
However, this situation has changed significantly since the second half of last year, when sales of PHEVs began to grow at a higher rate than that of BEVs, and became particularly pronounced this year.
In the January-October period, BYD sold 1,877,734 passenger PHEVs, up 62.23 percent year-on-year. BEVs sold 1,359,193 units in the same period, up just 11.97 percent year-on-year.
This contrast in growth rates is also reflected in the structure of NEV sales in China.
In the January-September period of this year, retail sales of passenger NEVs in China stood at about 8.3 million units, up 39.02 percent year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Retail sales of BEVs were 4.13 million units in the January-September period, up 17.79 percent year-on-year, while sales of PHEVs -- including extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) models -- were 3 million units in the same period, up 78.11 percent year-on-year.
In China, NEVs include BEVs, PHEVs, and fuel cell vehicles. October data from CPCA is not yet available.
BYD sells record 502,657 NEVs in Oct, exceeding 500,000 mark for 1st time
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